Gaza ceasefire collapses within hours

Middle East Correspondent

Palestinian women sit on the rubble of their home in Beit Hanoun. Photo: Hatem Moussa

Gaza City: The brittle ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed just four hours after it began, with an Israeli soldier feared captured and Palestinians forced to flee their homes again as the sound of tank fire returned to Gaza.

Gaza's health ministry was calling for immediate international assistance on Friday to evacuate thousands of civilians trapped under heavy Israeli bombardment in Rafah, where at least 40 people have already been killed and more than 150 injured.

A five-kilometre stretch of road between Salah Al-Eddin street and Al Najjar Hospital is under intense and indiscriminate artillery fire, ambulances are unable to reach the wounded, and thousands of civilians are trapped in their homes, the ministry said.

"We cannot reach the civilians to evacuate them, the wounded to provide medical care, or the dead to retrieve their bodies," it said.

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At least 35 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes and shelling in Rafah in the south of Gaza and more than 200 were injured, local media reported, while the armed wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said its militants had attacked an Israeli army post east of Rafah earlier on Friday morning.

The Israeli army said two soldiers were killed in fighting and named the soldier feared captured as a Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23.

Earlier an army spokesman said a 72-hour truce that was to have taken effect Friday morning was now over due to the incident.

"Initial indication suggests that an IDF soldier has been abducted by terrorists during the incident. The IDF is currently conducting intelligence efforts and extensive searches in order to locate the missing soldier."

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the United Nations that the three-day reprieve from fighting was over, accusing Hamas of rocket fire on Kerem Shalom in Israel.

The Israel Defence Forces say eight rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel after the ceasefire came into force at 8am local time on Friday. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

“There has been yet another violation of the humanitarian ceasefire by Hamas,” Mark Regev, the spokesman for Mr Netanyahu, said.

“This is a familiar pattern of behaviour – this is the fourth time they have violated a ceasefire,” he said. “There have been multiple attacks on Israeli forces, both inside Gaza and with mortar fire.”

Mr Regev insisted the only Israeli fire since 8am had been by “our forces trying to defend themselves”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry denounced as "outrageous" the attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and led to the alleged abduction.

After 25 days of bloodshed in which more than 1440 Palestinians and 64 Israelis have died, people on both sides of the border had welcomed the temporary, 72-hour ceasefire.

Residents of the devastated Shajaiyah neighbourhood, much of which lies in ruins, returned briefly to their homes this morning to sift through their belongings and try to salvage what they could. No sooner had they arrived than locals, along with Fairfax Media, were told to evacuate the area and people driving cars piled high with clothes and blankets began fleeing towards Gaza City. “You must leave – the ceasefire no longer exists,” a panicked resident said as he ran from the direction of the border.

In a joint statement released overnight on Thursday, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry said the ceasefire was “critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence”.

It would allow Palestinians to bury the dead, care for the injured and restock food supplies as well as carry out overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure, they said.

“We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian cease-fire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire.”

As soon as it was clear the temporary lull was holding, delegations from Israel and Palestine were due to go to Cairo, where an intensive round of negotiations over a longer lasting ceasefire was meant to take place. That, too, is now in doubt.